Instructions
You are to gather and analyze conversations comparing virtual to face-to-face interactions.
- Begin by creating a brief 5 question opinion survey/interview on a topic of interest. This should include open-ended questions so that the people surveyed can elaborate on their answers.
Please be mindful of using open questions in your survey. These are questions that require an explanation / more than a few words. Here are some examples: What are some of the things you like about this class? What are the challenges of going to school while working full time? How is an online class different from a face-to-face class? What types of activities do you enjoy in your class? Describe the consequences of getting behind. Avoid closed questions. These are questions that can be answered with a couple words and offer no explanation. Here are examples: How many classes are you taking this semester? What classes are you taking this semester? When do you have class? Do you think you are going to pass? Did you turn in all your assignments? Are the tests hard? When is the semester over?
- Complete the survey/interview with 3 people face-to-face then complete the same survey/interview with 3 people using virtual communication such as email, text messaging, chat room, discussion board, or any other virtual means that you wish to use.
- To prepare your essay, think critically about your results.
Determine what your thesis is and state it clearly and concisely. It should briefly introduce your topic but more importantly should indicate how virtual interaction compares and contrasts with face-to-face interaction.This will be the first sentence of your essay.
In the body of your essay, you should include your survey-interview questions but it is not necessary to include your participants’ answers. Focus on the answers to these questions and compare and contrast the 2 sets of information. Were your results what you expected? How were they similar; how were they different? Was it easier to interact virtually or face-to-face? What were the challenges? What were the advantages of meeting face-to-face verses meeting virtually? What were the disadvantages of each way? How did the differences in the following seem to influence the nature of the responses: physical distance, anonymity, richness of communication, visual cues, time? You will want to be very thorough in the body as this is a very large percentage of your grade on the essay.
Your conclusion should summarize how virtual interaction with people compares and contrasts with face-to-face interaction reaffirming your thesis without restating it. This is where you conclude with an overall summary describing your insight into what the findings mean to you and what you learned about yourself in reference to your psychological well-being and the method of communication that proves more effective.
